This week, I continue to hold more town hall meetings on tax reform. Our efforts to stop ObamaCare, questions about border security and immigration, wasteful Washington spending and now Syria are issues on our constituents’ minds as well. These 30 town halls in August and September are how I hold myself accountable to those I work for - you. The views and opinions I hear are hugely helpful in representing you on the critical issues facing America today. Check our website for a town hall near you or visit our tax reform website at http://www.kevinbrady.house.gov/taxreform to make your voice heard.

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I and others in the U.S. House called on the president to seek approval from Congress before initiating any military action against the Assad regime in Syria, and he has announced he will do so. There are two firm principles that I apply to any use of American military force: Is there a direct national security interest for America and is this interest so strong that it justifies sending American men and women into harm’s way?

Our fighting forces are the best in the world, but we jeopardize their lives without a clear mission and 100 percent support to complete that mission using their full power. It worries me today that our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan appear to be fighting with one hand tied behind their back - that’s not acceptable.

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Despite a sound defeat in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Department of Justice is suing Texas over our state’s reasonable and popular voter identification law. It’s already working well in recent elections.

This is more targeting of Texas by a White House that frankly detests our state. The U.S. Supreme Court clearly ruled that voting rights laws should apply equally to all states rather than just a few. I predict this latest White House targeting will fail and Texas will progress with stopping and deterring fraud at the ballot box.

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Nearly 10,000 baby boomers will retire each and every day for the next two decades. This places a tremendous strain on important programs like Medicare. It also means we will need tens of thousands more physicians and medical professionals to treat them.

We face a real doctor shortage in America. While the White House and several federal agencies - including the IRS - have hired new agents and enforcers for ObamaCare, they’ve done absolutely nothing to address this growing crisis. In fact, they are making it worse as more Texas doctors are retiring or finding they can no longer afford to see Medicare patients.

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As we prepare to remember the 12th anniversary of 9/11, let’s all come together to remember the nearly 3,000 innocent people who lost their lives in the World Trade Center, our Pentagon and in a now sacred field in Pennsylvania. Let’s remember our fallen heroes - our police and firefighters who ran into collapsing buildings determined to save lives. We cannot let 9/11 fade from our memories. As we learned from the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this year, jihadists have not given up on attacking Americans.

Just two months after 9/11, former President George W. Bush said, “Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.”

Amen, Mr. President. Amen.

Congressman Kevin Brady serves as chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and as senior member of the House Ways & Means Committee, where he chairs the Subcommittee on Health. Call his office in Conroe at 936-441-5700.